


Emotional Attachements

by TVgirll1971



Series: Innermost Thoughts [4]
Category: Whiskey Cavalier (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:23:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29699814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TVgirll1971/pseuds/TVgirll1971
Summary: Frankie announced from the start that she does not do emotional attachments. However, within a space of one year, she became pretty attached.
Relationships: Will Chase/Frankie Trowbridge
Series: Innermost Thoughts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2182494
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Emotional Attachements

She didn’t do emotional attachments. She was always proud of that. Stone cold professionalism—that was the mark of a great agent. The mission always came first; emotions just got in the way. Also, keeping people at arm’s length kept you from getting hurt when they left. And they always left—usually in the most awful way. She remembered when she was a teenager—so carefree. Not a care in the world—dancing around in her bedroom, going to swim meets, just having fun and being cool. And what did that get her? Two dead parents. She wishes they hadn’t have been so cool. They didn’t have to let her go to Europe for school. They could’ve said no—they should have. But no, they agreed to her frivolous whim and because of that, because of HER, they were gone. A part of her died with them. The day they died, she realized life wasn’t sunshine and rainbows. It was bitter. The ensuing years proved that.

Of course, she became close to Jai but that was different. He was her CIA handler. Well, he used to be. She was in such a dark place then. Years of traveling aimlessly, going from bad relationships, making bad choices. It eventually led to her becoming a assassin hired to take out a CIA weapons developer—one Jai Datta. Frankie assumed the job would be easy—he was egghead after all. Well, he might look like a skinny little guy but that man had skills! So instead of killing Jai, she wound up getting arrested by him. Sitting in that CIA interrogation room, she figured this was it. This was her legacy. A lifetime of bad decisions has led to her winding up in jail. Then Jai surprised her again—with a deal. The CIA was prepared to forgo charges on the condition that she work for them. Not being an idiot, she took the deal and worked and trained under Jai’s supervision. She liked Jai a lot. it didn’t take long for the pair to become friends. She didn’t know how it happened, she didn’t think Jai did either. Neither one of them were especially outgoing and friendly. They were both closed off individuals who focused on the task at hand. Maybe that was it? Maybe they gravitated towards each other because they were similar? Maybe it was because they didn’t judge one another for their faults? She didn’t know but, as the years went on, Jai became Frankie’s best friend—her rock, the one person she could count on through thick and thin. 

Then came the team she was recruited to lead. Well, co-lead. She told herself, and Will, that she would not get emotionally involved. They were colleagues put together to complete missions. They were *Not* friends. Which is what made her becoming so close to Susan so amazing. Yes, Susan’s resume was impressive. So impressive that Frankie knew who she was before she even met her. She was the FBI’s top profiler and Frankie couldn’t help but be impressed at how many crooks and killers she’d taken down. So, it made perfect sense for a profiler as exceptional as Susan to be on their team and she told Will that when he suggested her. But she certainly didn’t expect to hang out with Susan. Yet somehow it happened. Maybe it’s because Susan didn’t try to force it. She wasn’t like Will going on about the team being family. Or pressing her about information about her past. Susan was low-key. She built her relationship with Frankie slowly—first by initiating conversation (but nothing too personal), then offering advice when Frankie asked for it. By the time Susan approached her with the idea of a girls’ night out, they’d known each other for a few months so it didn’t feel weird to Frankie. By that point, she knew she liked Susan and did really want to spend more time with her. Plus, that first girls’ night out reawakened something in Frankie. It reminded her of the fun she had as a teenager hanging out with friends. 

Then there was Standish. She had no idea why Will wanted him on the team. The man was an analyst. He had *no* experience in the field. He didn’t even seem suited for it. The way he prattled on about everything—an agent needed to be level headed and Standish was not. He was probably one of the most immature people she’d ever met. But her co-leader thought he’d be a good agent. She didn’t understand that. Okay, he was smart and he was good with computers. But what about his whining in the car in Moscow about being hungry? What about him scurrying back from his little escape attempt just because Will fired one shot?

As the weeks went by, her opinion seemed to be correct. The way Standish acted--the complaining, the push to get a gun--the man seemed like an overgrown child. But somehow, he grew on her. Maybe it’s because she realized that he could learn. After all, the first time he'd fired a gun, he grazed Jai, yet months later, after some training, saved his life. Plus, he was brave. Maybe not in a conventional “stare down death” sort of way, but he tried. Look at London. Days after he could’ve fallen to his death, he successfully went on the roof of a tower to disable the security system. Sure, it had to be done but it was still remarkable that he found the nerve to do it. As the months went on, she began to see what Will saw. He wasn’t just a computer geek who should stay behind the scenes while the rest of them did the real work. He had potential to be a real field agent and Frankie began to see that with some pushing and training, he’d be a real good one. 

Then there was Ray. Frankie didn’t like him at first. Well, no one did—he was the guy who betrayed his best friend. Will was too nice of a guy to be hurt like that and the fact that Ray could just lie to Will’s face for months? It made her blood boil and she told Ray in no uncertain terms that he’d never be a part of the team. He was just their liaison—that’s all. Plus, the way he was all bouncy and happy—cracking stupid jokes, trying week in and week out to get in Will’s good graces when Will made it perfectly clear he wasn’t welcome? The man had no sense of decorum. He wasn't even a good agent anyway. After all, he let Ollerman get away with evidence tampering when he was supposed to be in charge of it. Not to mention that goof up when they compromised an MI6 mission. 

However, it seemed she was wrong about him too. Personally, he was still a goofball. However, he was not some slime ball who seduced his best friend's fiancée; rather, he was a simple dope who let himself get seduced. As for professionally, well, she had to admit he was good at his job. He wasn't anywhere near Will's level but he was a fairly good liaison. Even though their first safe house in Prague left much to be desired, he did eventually get them authorization to use The Hive. He was also apparently good enough with people to get the FBI Cyber Division to plant a fake news story when the team was in France. Plus, he arranged for the team to go an unsanctioned mission so they can take down an illegal child trafficking ring. And according to Jai, his rescue of Susan during SHEP was pretty astounding. In time, she realized that while what he did to Will was awful, Ray himself was not that bad of a guy. 

Then there was Mr. Emotional Availability himself- Will Chase. She totally underestimated him when they met. He just seemed so soft. She couldn’t understand how a guy that sappy could survive that long in the field. Didn’t take her long to find out how wrong she was. For as soft as he seemed—the guy was tough! ! He intrigued her so much. The man was so done in by her feminine wiles in Moscow that she was able to get the jump on him, yet he eventually turned it around and got the jump on her! Plus, the way he saved her after she’d been shot in France? She'd been so awful to him and yet he thought nothing of saving her. She remembered how annoying he was in their early missions—constantly saying they’d be a family and fishing for information about her past. Yet, she saw how people reacted to Will and soon realized that his big dumb heart wasn’t his weakness; it was his strength. 

She saw that strength when he took that bullet out of her in France. She saw it again when they defused that bomb together in Rome. He was like no man she'd ever met before. He was so emotionally open yet he did his job with dogged determination. The more she got to know him, the more he intrigued her. Then came the mission to southern France where she opened up to Will. She didn't plan on it. He hadn't even asked her anything. It was just being there brought up so many sweet memories and she just had to share them with someone. She had to share them with him.

However, Intelligence 101 dictates that missions and romance don't mix. People get emotionally involved and they get sloppy. But that kiss they shared at the chateau was amazing and a part of her really wanted to try things with Will. But then Emma walked in the door of the Dead Drop and that was that. Was she jealous? Yes. But she knew Emma was a better fit for Will anyway. Will needed someone bright, friendly, uncomplicated. Someone to go get ice cream with or watch cheesy musicals. Not someone like her who thought going to the shooting range was a lot more fun than some lame musical. So, she supported Will and Emma because she knew that was the better match.

Meanwhile, she grew closer and closer to Will. Yes, the man was too dorky, too weepy, and too easy on new agents. At the same time, he was one of the most decent, charming, bravest men she'd ever met. He was a bundle of contradictions and she found herself enjoying his company more and more.

No. She didn’t do emotional attachments but this team changed that. Will changed that.


End file.
